Instructional Strategies
Introduction Strategies are methods, or ways of performing particular tasks, that increase the chances of achieving a desired outcome. For example, military leaders use specific strategies to ensure the success of their missions, salespeople implement strategies to better their chances of making deals, sports teams may use certain strategies of play to defeat their rivals, and politicians use campaigning strategies to get elected. Instructional strategies operate under the same principle. Instructional strategies are ways of delivering instruction that provide the best opportunity to learners to achieve desired objectives. After learning goals, learning objectives, and assessment instruments are determined, instructional designers turn their attention to determining how the curriculum content will be delivered. Will learners read chapters from a textbook and discuss the material with colleagues? Will they conduct laboratory experiments or hands-on case studies? Will they participate in a computer simulation? This week, you will explore different types of instructional strategies that may be used to deliver different types of learning, and also examine how technology can be used to facilitate instruction. You will apply this knowledge as you work to develop instructional strategies for your curriculum design proposal. Group Project Determining Instructional Strategies This week, you and your group members will determine the instructional strategies to be included in your curriculum design proposal. Consider the principles of effective instructional strategies described in your Learning Resources. Consider how the content of your curriculum would be delivered most effectively. What type of activities will allow learners to grasp the content and meet the learning objectives? How might technology drive or enhance these experiences? By Monday, the Week 4 Facilitator should create a page in the group wiki designated for "Strategies." By Wednesday, post to your group wiki a description of at least two instructional strategies that you think should be included in your group's curriculum design proposal. For each strategy, describe the purpose, format, and overall content it would include. Include a brief rationale explaining why you think each of your suggestions would be effective. Return to your group wiki and review the strategy suggestions posted by your group members. How do your ideas compare with those of your colleagues? Do some ideas overlap? Do the ideas of your colleagues cause you to have a different perspective? By Friday, each group member should post his or her suggestion for the group's final instructional strategies (as a group, three instructional strategies must be included in the final proposal). These suggestions should reflect a combination of what you consider to be the best ideas from all group members. It is the responsibility of the Week 4 Facilitator to review each group member's suggestion and create a final set of instructional strategies that reflects the majority opinion. By Sunday, the Week 4 Facilitator should post the final list of instructional strategies to the group wiki. Each strategy should be accompanied by a description of its purpose, format, and general content, and a brief rationale for why it would be effective. Group members should visit the wiki, review the list, and use the wiki or other communication means to resolve any disagreements. In addition, the Facilitator should post the URL of this wiki content to the Week 4 area of the Group Project discussion board. Your Instructor will visit your group's wiki to ensure that all group members participated in this assignment and to approve you group's instructional strategies. 'Final Instructional Strategies' Strategy 1 ' An online program will be used to deliver instructional content. The purpose will be to deliver learning content in a way that is efficient effective, while being able to service a number of learners at one time, in a cost effective manner. Computer based instruction or e-learning will train the learner on the procedures and software used by the museum to log visitors, acquire their contact information and follow-up on potential membership and donor relations. Included could be operating procedures for maintaining the visitor center and develop knowledge of the local museums and attractions that participate in the local museum association. This system can keep track of each learner’s capabilities and can maintain and implement periodical verification of procedural knowledge and changing policies. '''Advantages ' Information can be updated in the learning material, as needed, without the need to reprint training material. In addition, online training material will allow the training to be tailored to the different learning styles by incorporating aspects from each into the training material. Because it is online, the assessment can be computer graded, which removes subjectivity from the process. 'Content Elements ' Learners will take introduction to the Art Museum eLearning prior to formal in-class training program. Program will provide information on the Art Museum, Exhibits, Information station, and donation process, safety information. Knowledge checks will be administered during the online learning to increase knowledge transference. '''Computer based training material will include: *Computer based training material will include: *Written instruction *Computer graded question/answer assessments *Role play training videos *Scripts *Scenario assessments *Simulations of museum layout *Simulations of museum layout assessments Strategy 2 'Classroom ' The training will be facilitated by a Docent- Instructor. The instructor will guide the learners through the curriculum, while providing personal examples of the learning material and supplementing the material with learner/ trainer dialogue. By using this format, the learner is able to ask questions, get answers that are not in the learning material, and have guidance through the training process. The trainer will be able to assess things the computer cannot, such as trainee attitude, work ethic, and interpersonal interactions. The trainer will facilitate real life role play, in addition to the virtual role play. 'On-the-job ' During the program, using Socratic Dialog, the Docent-Instructor for the museum can guide the students through the museum and give them the tour, reciting the established script and guiding the students through the new exhibits. Afterwards a script with the added information pertaining to the new exhibits is issued. After a period of study, the mentor then oversees the students’ role-playing scenarios. Learner will then conduct the tour as Docent-Instructor provides feedback via checklist. Docent-Instructor will mentor a new volunteer and use demonstration and procedure guide to walk the new volunteer through Information Station/Patron info/donation processes and procedures. The new volunteer will then process transactions independently as Docent-Instructor observes and provides feedback via checklist. At this point evaluations may be made as to the students’ retention of the material. This is also an extension of cognitive apprenticeship where the learner works under the supervision of an expert.